Review: oladance OWS 2

27 September 202327 September 2023 The Long Run

A lot of runners love to listen to their favourite podcast during their long run, or even some more upbeat music during sessions. Then there’s those that want to remain connected to their mobile in case there’s an important call coming through. So having a good set of wireless headphones is all important. Yes you can stay tethered to your phone with a cabled set, but that gets really annoying when you’ve got a wire bouncing around. Another important thing to note is safety. In-ear, bud style headphones have traditionally offered the best sound and stability while running. The downside of them, which is actually a positive in most scenarios, is they cancel out atmospheric noise. The sounds of traffic, planes, people etc can interfere with your tunes, but for the sake of safety, it’s good to be able to hear the world around you so you can react to what’s going on.

Enter the Oladance OWS. Unlike traditional in-ear headphones, they feature a completely open-ear design that sits gently and securely on top of your ear with the speaker component sitting outside. By leaving your ears ‘open’ you can still hear what’s happening around you, keeping you safe, while allowing you to still enjoy your tunes or chatting on a call. The functionality of them is very simple, with a powerful Bluetooth connection and intuitive operation. Even a tech-neanderthal like me can use them. Once paired, you use your finger to slide the touch panel of the earpiece to control the headset, from switching your playlist and pausing music, to answer or rejecting a call and adjusting the volume.

The battery life is very long, with the packaging suggesting it lasts up to 19 hours. I didn’t test them that long to see for myself, but you I can assure you that after wearing them all week on every run and during a couple of gym sessions, they didn’t need a charge. On that note, to recharge them you simply put them back into the convenient storage case and plug it into the supplied USB C cable. In terms of comfort, at first I felt as though they were going to move around a lot and potentially bounce off, but once I popped the earbud supporters on, they felt a lot more snug. All the parts that are in contact with your skin are made from a soft silicone, so they’re surprisingly comfortable, even when worn for an extended period.

The only thing I think it’s important to note is that like all on-ear headphones, they don’t achieve the same high volume or noise cancelling that buds usually provide. The sound is still fantastic, with decent base and good dynamic range, but they aren’t designed to achieve deafening volume, which helps with keeping you in touch with the outside world.